An Arsenal fan's take on the North London derby

Andre Villas-Boas and Arsene Wenger will go head-to-head in the North London derby on Sunday (Getty Images)

Introduction

Arsenal host fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur this Sunday in a mouth-watering derby. The Gunners have managed to win once in their two games while Spurs have secured two wins out of two. In the same fixture in the last two seasons, Arsène Wenger’s side have come out on top with a 5-2 hammering of their much hated rivals.

During midweek, Arsenal managed to book their place in the UEFA Champions League group stages after seeing off Fenerbahce’s challenge with a 5-0 aggregate win. The group draw has also taken place with the men in red and white being handed a difficult task against top European teams in Borussia Dortmund, Olympique Marseille and Napoli. Tottenham meanwhile continue their Europa League campaign with a relatively much easier draw than that of Arsenal.

Transfers

Ahead of the tie, in terms of transfers, there has been a massive difference between the business done by the two North London clubs. The white half have had their biggest summer spending spree, breaking their club record transfer fee on three occasions. Spurs have totally changed their side with 7 major additions namely Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Paulinho, Vlad Chirches, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and Etienne Capoue. All are either proven world class players or exciting prospects for the future.

On the other hand, the window in which Arsenal were expected to get in big money signings with their reported £70 million war chest, it has been quite the opposite. The Arsenal fans have been left frustrated with the only additions being young striker Yaya Sanogo and former Gunner Mathieu Flamini, both free agents. As a result, Le Profeseur and the board have faced much criticism with not being able to spend even a single pound after being linked with the likes of Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney, Angel Di Maria, Karim Benzema, Ashley Williams, etc.

But a difference during this window is that Tottenham have seen their best player (you know who I’m talking about) depart whereas Arsenal have cleared the deadwood and with the sale of players like Gervinho. This is unusual for the Arsenal faithful who have been accustomed to see their best players depart the previous few seasons.

Predicted line up and score

Here is how I think the Gunners’ starting XI will look come this Sunday night:

Wojciech Szczesny – Has regained form. Will have to look out for Soldado if they get a penalty.

Bacary Sagna – Back to his original right back position. Would look to get upfield to support attacks.

Per Mertesacker – Will have to keep Soldado quiet who would look to score his third in as many game.

Laurent Koscielny – The Frenchman would be back from his ban and will look to stable the Arsenal defence.

Kieran Gibbs – Faces a tough task against a tricky Andros Townsend.

Aaron Ramsey – Would want to get on the scoresheet and keep up the form.

Luke Wilshere – An exciting battle between him and Paulinho. Will want to get back to his best in the NDL.

Tomas Rosicky – Would be looking to tear apart the Spurs defence and score.

Santi Cazorla – Will start on the left wing. ‘The Little Magician’ would want to have a MOTM performance.

Theo Walcott – Will want to register his first goal of the season. Still hasn’t found the back of the net.

Olivier Giroud – Would be looking to see off Vertonghen and add to his impressive goals’ tally.

Predicted Score: Why not a hat trick of 5-2′s? A bit too optimistic and biased, but I’m going for a third successive 5-2 home win against Tottenham.

Conclusion

This looks a pretty good side to beat, the new look Tottenham. Despite the good additions, Arsenal must not get carried away and try and get three points. A win would bring them level with Spurs on points. A win greater than 2-0 would take Arsenal above Spurs.

COYG.